Cover Crop Benefits

Through utilization of cover crops we can address many concerns and improve the overall heath of your operation.

Our grasses and cereals are known for their deep rooting and nutrient sequestion. Bounty Annual Ryegrass can not only perform in wet soils where no other cover crop can grow, but it has been proven that Bounty Annual Ryegrass releases chemicals that will break up fragipan soils. Weed suppression and erosion control are also achieved with plants like cereal rye as well as Bounty Annual Ryegrass for the fall, winter, and spring. In the summer months, plant like sorghum Sudan and millet achieve these tasks. When you mow millet or sorghum Sudan to about a foot in height, you stimulate root growth substantially. They can also be used for grazing or forage. Spring oats are utilized in the summer as well as the fall, their rapid growth and ability to sequester carbon make them the ideal nurse crop when seeded with other cover crops.

Legumes are known for improving the tilth of the soil in the top few inches, as well as fixing nitrogen naturally. Attention should be given to seeding date when seeding legumes, as these are the most expensive seed to purchase and success is a must. It usually takes 45 days from germination for a legume to begin to fix nitrogen, from this point they will also leach nitrogen into the soil, so pairing them with a grass or cereal is a good practice to achieve maximum benefit from the legume. Legumes can also be integral part of any mix to help balance the microbial diet and address the C:N ratio. When seeding legumes in the fall it increases winter survival when they are seeded with spring oats. The oat’s rapid growth act as insulation from the harsh elements we experience during the winter months.

Brassicas boost a large tap root and stimulate earth worm activity. The radish captures a large amount of nutrients and store them in their tuber for release upon their breakdown, this is usually in march. Plants like kale and rapeseed have a very nice taproot that are a very inexpensive addition to any mix. They not only stimulate earthworm activity but also have shown to reduce SDS and white mold in soybeans. In some cases, they can survive the winter, so attention must be given for spring control. Brassicas are also used in many grazing mixes.